


Shattered Glass

by UraniumLord



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft - Various Authors
Genre: Corruption, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Magic, Mental Health Issues, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Suggestive is as far as it'll go, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-04-07 04:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19077124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UraniumLord/pseuds/UraniumLord
Summary: Zul refuses to get close to anyone, Why would he, when he can see all the terrible endings?An apprentice attempts to shatter the threads of fate like old glass.But the fates are not so easily swayed.





	1. Prologue

My parents, they were so proud of me. Testing so well in the Hall of Castes at such a young age, showing my promise with visions that came quickly true.  
I never had the heart to tell them that the first vision that I had was of their deaths.

The seer who tested me never told them either. And I suppose it was him that I blamed for never giving them a warning, though the blame should fall squarely on my shoulders for being too frightened to inform them myself. I never even had the chance to say goodbye. 

This would become a blueprint for my life. There was a reason they sent me away to study under the great Prophet Zul, after all. His haunted eyes saw nothing but destruction and pain. The same as my own. I remember the first time we locked eyes as he was looking over the new apprentices. I was just a frightened young man, hugging my scrolls to my chest with a pair of reading glasses perched awkwardly on my nose. But it was the first time I saw the look reflected in someone else - he'd seen the same things I'd seen. I vowed that day to take his every word to heart. 

But I never saw this. Here on this cold floor, locked in an embrace, a bloody hand...tears...probably the first time the both of us have cried in years.

But no story starts at the end. And my own begins a few years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is MUCH shorter than most will be.


	2. The Beginning

"Xiku! Come out! Studying is over for the day!" 

The young apprentice jerked at the shout, looking up and squinting at the bright light coming in through the suddenly opened door. He'd gotten rather distracted, pouring over the array of bones he was attempting to scry from. 

"I'm working, Zui'gan. And now I have to start over." The gangly young prophet pushed his glasses up on his nose, glaring at the shape of his peer, just an outline against the setting sun outside. 

"Working on what? Did you not finish everything in the lecture earlier today?" Xiku could easily hear the annoyance in Zui'gan's voice. He waved off the other apprentice. 

"I had a vision last night. I'm trying to figure out where it was."

"Then write it down in your notebook, and come with us! We're going swimming. It'll be more fun than sitting by yourself in a dark room."

"I'd really rather do my scrying. I want to know where that vision took place," Xiku insisted. 

Zui'gan rolled his eyes, letting the door fall closed again without even saying goodbye. Not that it bothered Xiku, to tell the truth - he immediately turned back to the bones he'd casted onto the table, sighing softly as he gathered them back up again. He'd lost his place with the interruption. 

"I told you, Zui. He's boring, and weird."

The voice came from outside his door. The tips of his ears flicked softly, hands falling still as he looked towards the door - left to swing closed on its own, it hadn't latched all the way. Softly, carefully he stepped forward, turning to listen more closely.

"He never comes with us. Always talking about his visions being 'too important' and how 'busy' he is! I told you not to bother inviting him."

"Ah, I just felt bad for him. But now I see, he's SO rude. Nobody would want to be around him for that alone."

A short laugh.

"No use inviting him again. Leave him to his bones and ghosts. So dour," the last words floated to him along with the sounds of footsteps crunching down the path and away. 

His face was impassive as he listened. But if there were someone in the dark room with him, they'd easily see the tremble in the tips of his ears, the way he squeezed his hands tightly around the bones. The words of the other apprentices cut deeply. For a moment he considered dropping the bones and rushing after them, saying he changed his mind - no! He didn't want to be around them anyways. They never took their work seriously.

Turning back to the table he casted the bones over the stone surface once again, staring at them with furrowed brow. But...

Was he really boring?

Someone to avoid being around?

His hands shook, and he smacked the table. Whatever clarity he had was gone. He wouldn't be able to scry anything more that evening. 

Perhaps getting out WOULD do him some good. But not with any of his peers. 

Turning to a nearby bookshelf he selected a book, some sort of epic of trolls past. Tucking it under one arm he left his small hut, heading down the gravel path past the dwellings of the other apprentices. The low wooden buildings were sparse, no frills were given to the learning prophets. Desks to work on and a crunchy, hay-filled bed to sleep on were the most they got. Though some had been furnished by their families, or by themselves, the outsides remained stark and squat and barren. Most were empty by now, gone with the main group to the beach, or off on other evening endeavors.

Xiku's gaze lifted to the setting sun, cresting over the temple. But that was not his destination either. Lowering his head he continued down the small gravel path, shoving past a few tendril filled ferns that slapped at his face and sharp small bushes that bit at his ankles. The troll shoved to the other side - and it had been worth it, as it always was, emerging in the small garden.

He'd found it after a particularly difficult night, one that had driven him to wander in the dew-covered morning. Stumbling upon the place had truly been magical, with it's old but well-carved benches, and careful clumpings of beautiful flowers. Of course, there was nothing magical about it, but it was still a place he had frequented since. he felt more clarity there, alone with nothing but the small saurids that darted between the leaves, and the birds that trilled in the canopy high above. Where the garden came from or who tended it, he never questioned. 

Settling down on a bench near a particularly vibrant cluster of pink flowers he pulled his legs up, opening his book, and losing himself among the pages. 

"You prefer to be alone, don't you? This place speaks to you because of the silence." 

He nodded absently, still lost in the pages. Hearing voices that seemed to come from nowhere was really part and parlor for a prophet, even an amateur. 

"Myself as well. This is the first time I have seen anyone else here. Much less one of my apprentices."

The voice was calm, blasé even. Familiar. Wait... _my_ apprentices? 

Xiku's head whipped up, eyes wide - the gaze he met was unmistakable. The sunken, reddish eyes of his teacher, standing very near indeed.


	3. Author's Note

Heya friends, sorry to give a false update (if there's anyone watching this, of course). I figured since I've said on a few different platforms that I'll update " soon " I should make some sort of statement here too - I am STRUGGLIN.  Connecting beginnings to parts later in the story I have already planned has always been hard for me! But, I will be updating as soon as my inspiration comes back...I will continue with the good Zul content soon and I never plan to fully abandon this story even if it takes a few months to keep going. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys welcome to my self indulgent Zulfic!   
> I'm writing this as a sort of cathartic exercise for myself, but I hope that it can bring joy to some other folks as well.  
> Find me at https://uranium-lord.tumblr.com !


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